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There is something rather satisfying about cooking to the seasons, in line with the weather – hot or cold, or with your mood – fresh and light or warm and comforting.

Stew and Dumplings summed up my mood the other night. The curtains were drawn, it was raining and I felt like eating something hearty and dough-like.

If you look carefully, some shop-brought dumpling mix is suitable for vegans (possibly from the Co-op if my memory serves me correctly). But I haven’t been able to pick up any recently – so I thought it was time to just make my own.

They are flavoured with shallot and herbs and cooked in a deep, rich, gravy-based sauce with carrot, courgette and potato. I challenge you not to feel all cosy inside after a portion of them for dinner!

1. To make the dumplings, begin by frying off the shallot in oil until soft. This will take a couple of minutes. 2. In a bowl, rub the margarine into the flour and add in the herbs and shallot. Season with salt & pepper. Taste a bit of raw dumpling to test the flavour.
3. Knead together with your hands so that all the fat combines with the flour and make 12 dumpling balls. Set them aside.
4. For the stew, fry the garlic and onion in oil until soft. Now add in your vegetables and continue to cook for a few minutes.
5. Transfer the vegetables to a large pot with a lid and pour the stock over the top of them. Mix in the gravy granules, yeast extract and bay leaves. Stir well.
7. Simmer the stew for 30 mins, before adding the dumplings and continuing to cook until they are swollen and tender.
8. Serve in deep wide bowls.

Over the last few years I have learned there is a lot more to making Dahl than a load of old lentils. Moving to Bristol 10 years ago really opened my eyes to this. Eating out at lots of decent Indian restaurants and buying fresh Dahl made in the kitchens of Asian supermarkets taught me a few lessons. At their simplest, Dahl recipes often involve little other than red lentils, onion, tinned tomatoes and curry powder. Some of these recipes are quite nice, but in my mind, rarely compare to an authentic Dahl served in a good Indian restaurant. These tend to be silky smooth, rich in flavour and very special.

Previously, the closest I’d come to perfecting a really good Dahl was from following a recipe in a Hare Krishna recipe book someone gave me for free on the street, called The Higher Taste, but even this has room for improvement.

So here is my Tarka Dahl recipe (meaning garlic Dahl), which is largely inspired by conversations I’ve had with people who have family or friends of Pakistani origin, who have shared some of their methods and secrets.

Key elements include; adequate soaking time, amount of garlic, chili and salt ratio and a golden rule not to stir too much.

Here I used Moong dahl (skinned and split mung beans), as they form a wonderful velvety texture when cooked. I served my Dahl with Quinoa; but it’s also delicious with brown or basmati rice or homemade chapati.

1-2 cups of water to mix in at the end
Splash of lemon juice
Sprinkle of fresh or dried coriander to serve

1. Cover the Moong dahl with water and soak for at least an hour.
2. Rinse them through, place in a medium-sized saucepan and cover with fresh water.
3. Add the four garlic cloves, first half of onion and the teaspoon of cumin seeds.
4. Bring to the boil, then cover and turn down to simmer for an hour. Mix only very gently. The aim is to keep the dahl intact.
5. Towards the end of the hour, add the spinach to the mix, so it wilts in.
6. Heat the oil for the spice mix in a small frying pan. Soften the onion and garlic before adding the rest of the spices. Brown everything off in the oil, but do not have the heat too hot or allow to burn. It should be golden and aromatic.
7. Pour the spice mix into the Dahl and incorporate gently.
8. Add 1-2 cups of water at the end if needed, plus a splash of lemon juice, to create a Dahl of your desired consistency; either like a soup, or thicker to be scooped up in a chapati!
9. Serve with fresh or dried coriander sprinkled on the top, with a spoon of dairy-free yoghurt or chutney.

This is a fantastic recipe for quick, delicious, fresh bread in a hurry. It’s a favourite on retreats, toasted and spread with vegan margarine, avocado or nut butter. It is adapted from a Paul Hollywood recipe.

Let’s face it, if you are in the know-how, there are much healthier things to spread on your toast or oatcakes in the morning than margarine, let alone butter…such as a homemade plant-based pâté.

Why not make something that tastes great but also gives you a fabulous nutritional boost to start your day.

This pâté is made using heart-healthy cashew nuts, packed with monounsaturated fats, copper and magnesium, which are great for bone health; teamed with brilliant Organic Black Chia Seeds, which are rich in Omega 3 and 6 (needed for good cell health, brain and nerve function). They also contain good levels of fibre and protein.

1. Place the cashews, chia seeds and sunflower seeds in a bowl and cover with water. Leave to soak overnight.
2. The next day, mix in the rest of the ingredients apart from the salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and lemon juice. Blend with a stick blender until thick but textured. Now add in the final three ingredients to taste.
4. Spoon into pots and allow to chill, before spreading on quinoa crackers or bread!

Homemade bread really is amazing. It’s addictive too. Once you start making it, it’s hard to go back to buying loaves from a shop. Now I’m at home all the time, we have retired the bread machine and have been doing more ourselves.

I often make my Focaccia Bread with the help of the Magimix, or bake two straight loaves of half white half wholemeal and knead the dough by hand.

But if you want homemade bread but find the kneading and double-rising process too time consuming, I have the answer.

My mother in law Jean has kindly given us a fantastic bread recipe, which produces a lovely loaf in less than an hour. It uses spelt flour; doesn’t require kneading and is only left to rise in its tin, once. Give it a go, you won’t be disappointed, just impressed!

Jean’s Spelt Bread
Makes one medium-sized loaf
Preparation/cooking time less than one hour

1. Mix together the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle with a wooden spoon.
2. Mix in the water and oil and stir to form a smooth, wet dough.
3. Spoon wet dough mix into a well-oiled bread tin. Top with seeds.
4. Cover and set aside somewhere warm to rise. The bread won’t rise a lot, usually just reaching the top rim of the tin. Meanwhile, pre-heat your oven to 220C/Gas Mark 7.
5. Bake for 25-30 mins. Remove from tin. The loaf should sound hollow when tapped. If it doesn’t, return to the oven for a few minutes, out of the tin.
6. Cool on a wire rack.
* You can use standard bread flour too.

Kale is such an amazing food. I’ve recently been eating lots more of it, after my friend Ruth told me about ‘massaging’ it with olive oil. If you haven’t tried this, do give it a go! Here is a link to an article about it from the Huffington Post. Kale is so fabulous – containing vitamins A, C and K as well as minerals like copper, potassium, iron, manganese and phosphorus. A cup of fresh kale has only about 40 calories but packs almost three grams of protein.

So I thought I’d try making a pesto or dip with raw kale, as another way to enjoy this super-green. Enjoy stirred through warm pasta, or spread onto some lovely wholemeal bread.
Kale and Walnut Pesto or DipMakes one medium pot

Place all ingredients together in a high-speed blender, like a Nutribullet and blend until smooth or a consistency you like is reached. Taste and add more seasoning if you need. If the pesto/dip is too thick, add more oil, or a splash of plant milk if you prefer. Enjoy!